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I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. Ephesians 3:16 (NCV)
One time I met a person while camping that told me about an experience he had about 15 years earlier. The guy seemed like a regular guy, nothing stood out about him. Plain and simple. But his story still makes me shake my head.
He and his fiancé’ (now wife) decided to take their boat acrossLake Erieto a restaurant on a small island for supper. During the meal they overheard some other guests talking about a storm that was on its way. They finished eating and decided to make a run for home since the sky didn’t look all that threatening. Long story made short, they didn’t make it. The boat was swamped by a wave from the fast moving storm. The couple spent 8 hours in the icy water clinging to the overturned boat, in the storm before being rescued. It was a phenomenal story of strength and determination
I hear similar stories and wonder what it is that gives people the inner strength to endure, to press on in the face of adversity when death seems immanent. What is the trigger in our minds that tells us, against all odds, I can make this happen? What motivates us to say “I will not be defeated?”
Stories of physical determination are intriguing to say the least, but what of our spiritual lives? What can we rely on for the emotional strength we need to endure addictions, to stand up in the face of abuse or persecution, to face job loss, cancer or divorce? What can we cling to when our kids take the wrong path or we lose a loved one? How can we pick up the pieces after natural disaster takes all we have?
The humanist will tell you we must rely on our inner being. You just have to believe in yourself. Have the will to succeed. Go the extra mile. While there may be some truth to that, just believing in ourselves is no guarantee of peace. Sometimes it just leads to denial.
The ‘religionist’ will tell you to rely on your faith. They have an easy answer to all the obstacles. They set up rules for you to follow. If things go bad they simply point to the rules. If you are enduring struggles you must have broken a rule. Follow the rules and all will go well. Believing in religious systems won’t, in and of themselves, offer much comfort.
The weakness in the humanist and religionist view point is that they both tell you that YOU are the main source of strength. Believe in yourself. Believe in, and follow the rules. You are the common denominator in endurance.
Jesus says, rely on me. With his Spirit within you, even though the world crumbles around you inside you know who is in control and it’s not you. It’s not ‘faith’ in yourself, it’s the spirit of the almighty creator God who just happens to be passionately in love with you!
Stop trying to do life in your own power. Ask the creator God of the universe to indwell and empower you. Life may not get easier, but by God’s strength you will find a way through it all.
PRAYER: Father God. I’m tire of trying to do it myself. I hear all these voices telling me I CAN but I can’t! Forgive me for trying it my way. Indwell and empower my by your Spirit to endure what lay ahead. In Jesus name, Amen.
When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on…Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it…” Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NLT)
The Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land! After years of captivity they were going to finally receive the land that God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Joseph. It wasn’t an easy journey. The people grew tired of setting up and taking down camp. They missed the comfort of Egypt, even though they forgot about the abusive pain that they endured while there.
Soon they came to Mount Sinai and things got better. They had food provided to them daily, the Lord kept them in the shade of His cloud by day and they had the pillar of fire to keep them warm on the cool desert evenings. For two years, although they were surrounded by wilderness, they lived in comfort on the mountain.
Soon the word of the Lord came to them. You’ve stayed here long enough. This mountain-top experience has to end so that you can receive the real promise, the ultimate blessing of the land I have prepared for you. Pull up stakes. Head into the Wilderness so that you can receive something much better than you have now.
The message is much the same for us today. We have dreams. We have things we’d like to do. But we grow comfortable in our surroundings and don’t want to venture out. After all, who’d choose to be in a wilderness when we can enjoy the mountains.
If we want to receive all that God has for us it is impossible to stay in our comfort zone. But often it is easier to stay where we are. We don’t like hardship. We want to be comfortable and experience all the good things of life and God. But growing doesn’t come when we are comfortable. Growth, true Spiritual Growth, comes during those wilderness experiences when God teaches us to trust in Him.
Our Heavenly Father uses the hard times of life to teach us lessons we must learn to glorify Him. His goal is, and always will be, to give us the things we desire, to show us His good and perfect will. Until we are ready to leave our comfort zone and venture into the wilderness we will never experience the promises God has for us.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I confess to you that I far rather prefer comfort and mountain top experiences than I do the hardship of the wilderness. I know that I need to travel through the wilderness in order to receive all you have for me. Please give me the courage to step out, to get off my mountain and follow you. Strengthen me as I go through the wilderness and help me trust in You. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 